Scholarship & Education Committee

Scholarship & Education Committee Meeting Minutes - Draft Tuesday, January 28, 6:30 P.M., City Hall Annex, 98 Washington Street Called to Order: 6:30 p.m. Members Present: Tyler Carlton, Elizabeth McGovern, Amy Stewart, Cynthia Nina-Soto Staff Present: Dominick Pangallo 1. Welcome and introductions 2. Presentation of Education Fund Grant awards The committee presented grant awards approved at the November meeting to representatives of the five organizations that received funding: Salem High School Bridge Program, LEAP for Education, SSU/SHS Next Leaders program, Salem Early Education Center, and Saltonstall School’s literacy program. 3. Approval of minutes The committee unanimously approved the minutes of November 25, 2019 4. Financial update The Scholarship Fund received $415.69 in November, $4.97 in December, and has a balance of $2,822.99. The Education Fund received $18 in November, $0 in December, and has a balance of $16,205.81. Dominick distributed the four-year trends for September, October, November, and December. 5. Old business a. Fundraising updates The committee decided to pursue fundraising opportunities connected to Heritage Days 2020 and, more specifically, if it would be possible to get a dunk tank or pie facing event set up on the Common during the Ice Cream Bowl, Pizza Contest, or both. Jennifer submitted a report summarizing grant opportunities from local banks and determined that Salem Five and Eastern present the best fits for the committee’s funds. Tyler will prepare applications for each. b. Education Fund grant application review The committee reviewed an application from Susan Blanchard, a math teacher at Saltonstall School, requesting funds to support the math team’s use of board games to increase student and family engagement in math and enhance mathematical thinking by students. The committee deliberated on the request and approved a grant award in the amount of $500. c. Status of special act relative to the Education Fund The legislation was reported out of committee in the fall and has been in the Committee on Bills in the Third Reading since then. Rep. Tucker’s office sent a letter in early January asking for it to be moved out for passage. Tyler will visit the Committee chair’s offices in person to advocate for it to be reported out. 6. New business The committee reviewed the Scholarship Fund application form and modified the required information to simplify the financial information requested from applicants and eliminated the requirement for letters of reference. The 2020 application deadline was approved for May 15, 2020. Dominick will update the application form online, distribute to Salem schools, and issue a press release announcing its availability. Next Meeting: Tuesday, February 25th, 6:30 p.m., City Hall Annex Adjourned: 7:35 p.m.